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A French court has ordered a news website to withdraw recordings an adviser secretly took of ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy during his 2012 election campaign.

In an emergency ruling sought by Mr Sarkozy, the Paris court also ordered adviser Patrick Buisson to make a damages down payment of 10,000 euros ($15,370) to the conservative leader and wife Carla Bruni.

Revelations in early March that Mr Buisson, once part of Mr Sarkozy's inner circle, had recorded hours of talks with the conservative leader and his entourage, caused uproar in the opposition UMP party ahead of late March local elections.

Mr Sarkozy's lawyer Thierry Herzog said he was "satisfied" with the ruling.

A lawyer for Ms Bruni, Richard Malka, said: "This decision shows that the end does not justify the means. People cannot live under the sword of Damocles with recordings taken all the time that then end up broadcast on the internet".

In the published excerpts posted by Atlantico, Mr Sarkozy is heard discussing his electoral strategy and a 2011 cabinet reshuffle.

Ms Bruni is recorded joking about how she had to put her modelling career on ice while she was France's first lady.

Former President of the Republic is threatened by several cases. Among them is that concerning an alleged financing of the 2007 presidential campaign of Nicolas Sarkozy by Libyan money from the Gaddafi family.

April 19, 2013, the Paris prosecutor's office opened a criminal investigation against X for "active and passive bribery", "influence peddling", "forgery and false", "misuse of corporate assets" and "laundering, complicity and concealment of these crimes. "Two judges, and René Serge Tournaire Grouman, educate this issue.

March 7, 2014, Le Monde revealed that Nicolas Sarkozy, Claude Gueant and Brice Hortefeux (who were his interior ministers) were tapped as part of the judicial investigation.

French ex-President Nicolas Sarkozy has been detained for questioning over alleged influence peddling.

Mr Sarkozy is being held at Nanterre, near Paris, in an unprecedented step against a former president.

Mr Sarkozy is being questioned about whether he sought inside information from a judge concerning an investigation into campaign funding.

The latest developments are seen as a blow to Mr Sarkozy's attempts to challenge for the presidency in 2017.

Investigators are trying to find out whether Mr Sarkozy, 59, who was president from 2007 to 2012, had promised a prestigious role in Monaco to a high-ranking judge, Gilbert Azibert, in exchange for information about an investigation into alleged illegal campaign funding.

They are looking into claims that Mr Sarkozy was warned his phone was being bugged as part of the funding probe.

Mr Azibert, one of the most senior judges at the court of appeal, was called in for questioning on Monday. Another judge, Patrick Sassoust, was also questioned, as was Mr Sarkozy's lawyer Thierry Herzog.

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy was placed in custody on Tuesday as part of an investigation into allegations he received millions of euros in illegal campaign financing from the regime of the late Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.

A judicial source with direct knowledge of the case told The Associated Press that Sarkozy was being held at the Nanterre police station, northwest of Paris. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

Sarkozy has vehemently and repeatedly denied wrongdoing in the case, which involves funding for his winning 2007 presidential campaign.

Though an investigation has been underway since 2013, the case gained traction some three years later when French-Lebanese businessman Ziad Takieddine told the online investigative site, Mediapart, that he delivered suitcases from Libya containing €5 million euros in cash to Sarkozy and his former chief of staff Claude Gueant.

A lawyer for Sarkozy, 63, did not immediately respond to a message from the AP seeking comment.